But My Heart is Wild and Free
by ismisesarah
Summary: Dreams can be mysterious things.


_13th April, 1926_

After twenty-one hours of labour Jean Louise Finch came crying and screaming into the world, warning everyone from her first breath that she was going to be a little spitfire. Like her brother before her she was a tiny little pink thing, the only big difference between the two was the shock of jet black hair on her head.

"Looks like she'll be her father's image." Dr Reynolds had said, carefully placing the baby into Jean's arms.

"Well, we can't all be beauty queens, can we?" Jean had replied teasingly, still a little out of breath, but completely enamoured with her daughter from the very first moment. It was only once she was settled in her mother's arms did the baby stop crying. Her little face remained deadly serious as she kept her eyes open long enough to fully take in her mother above her, never once looking away or even seeming to blink.

"Even after twenty-one hours of labour you still manage to torment me." Atticus replied, kissing his wife's head and gazing down at the little person in her arms.

"If I don't, then who will?" Jean replied absently, still beaming and making faces at her daughter. "This little one certainly isn't. She's going to be daddy's little girl and have you wrapped around her finger. Aren't you, baby?" She cooed down at the bundle in her arms, the baby continuing to stare blankly back at her.

Atticus hovered close to his wife's side, his arm around her shoulders as they both stared down at their baby. He was standing so close and fidgeting so much that it didn't take Jean long to realise he was desperate to get holding his daughter.

"Anyone would think you were itching to get holding her, Mr Finch," Jean teased him. "Take her before you go crazy." She laughed, ever so carefully raising her arms in his direction.

He didn't need telling twice and quickly took his daughter in his arms, almost dropping her in his haste to hold her, and settling into the chair beside the bed. He seemed completely content, the same kind of content he had been when Jem had been placed into his arms for the first time. He did nothing but stare at his daughter, smiling serenely as he brushed her cheek, her hair, her nose. It was easy to see he was completely in love.

"You alright?" Jean asked playfully. "You're very quiet over there."

"Fine," Atticus answered simply. "I was just thinking, I think this one is gonna be a bit of an adventurer." He let his daughter grasp his finger in her fist.

Little did he know just how right he would be.

oOoOoOo

 _23rd February, 1936_

Scout Finch hated rainy days. Rainy weather meant she and Jem were forced to stay inside, practically bored stupid with a lack of entertainment. Rainy weather meant helping Cal with chores around the house that Scout had particular distaste for. Rainy weather meant being bored out of her mind. This rainy day was turning out to be different, though. Owing to Jem being at a friend's house doing some homework assignment, and Cal being sick at home, Scout was very much left completely to her own devices to keep herself entertained, something that was proving to be difficult.

She had read for half an hour before losing interest in the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, she had flicked through some pages in the adventure book she and her fiancé Dill had made highlighting all the places they would fly once she was a qualified pilot, and she had even read some of Jem's football magazines out of sheer desperation for something to do. Around one in the afternoon, she was even wishing Cal was in the house just to give her something to do.

As the afternoon progressed and it reached three in the afternoon, she had grown so bored that she had convinced Atticus to play hide and seek with her, thought she knew full well Atticus would let her hide and continue reading before coming and finding her within five minutes. Sometimes she hated how her father knew her so well he even knew her hiding places within the house. Scout promised herself that this time would be different, this time she'd get him.

After searching around frantically for a few moments to find the perfect hiding spot, she finally decided on inside a cupboard in the utility room. Atticus barely ever set foot in the room, so she knew it would take ages for him to find her this time. Smiling gleefully to herself, she waited. And waited. And waited. Atticus had given her his watch to make sure she didn't hide or "stay lost" for too long, and when fifteen minutes passed and Atticus still hadn't found her spot, she could feel herself beginning to get tired, but she refused to come out. Let Atticus search high and low for her, she'd stay right where she was, falling asleep with her head against the cupboard door.

oOoOoOo

 _9th June, 1919_

The unforgiving Alabama sun was what eventually woke Scout. Reaching up to rub at her eyes, she found that they were blocked by a pair of goggles. Becoming alarmed, she jolted upright and immediately began to feel over head, confusion coursing through her as to how she was suddenly wearing her dress up aviation helmet. Quickly yanking the thing off her head, she saw the adventure book she and Dill had constructed lying on the ground beside her. What in the world was going on? The last thing she remembered was clambering into the cupboard in the utility room to hide from her father, how was she now lying in the middle of some woods with her helmet and scrapbook? Was she dreaming?

Pulling herself onto her feet, Scout took a look at where she was. She was surrounded by trees and she could hear the gentle running of a river in the distance. If she didn't know better she would say she was at Finch's Landing, but how would she have gotten there? The only time they were ever at the Landing was Christmas, and she was sure it had been February when she climbed into that cupboard.

A little nervously, she pulled her helmet and scrapbook closer to her and decided to go for a walk. If this really was the Landing, then she wasn't too far from the main house. Maybe she could find Aunty and figure out what on earth was going on. She walked until the main house finally came into view, confirming her theory that she was definitely at the Landing, and leaving her very confused. As she made to run out of the bushes and up the main steps to the house, the sound of the back door slamming made her freeze on the spot. Was Aunty about to come out and berate her for fooling around in the dirt again? What reason would she give this time to say that Scout wasn't a lady?

As it turned out, it wasn't Alexandra who came down the steps at the back, but a man and a woman. As Scout peered closer from her hiding place in the bushes, she nearly fainted with shock at realising that the man was Atticus! He looked a little younger than Scout remembered him - his sideburns weren't grey anymore and the he didn't seem to have nearly as many wrinkles - but it was definitely her father. He still had his glasses and his vest and his jet black hair; the man was definitely Atticus Finch. Scout then had to wonder if the woman with him could be her mother. As far as she knew, her mother had been the only woman in her father's life, so who else could it possibly be? Intrigued, Scout decided to trail after them.

She followed them down a little overgrown path that she knew lead to a little clearing just beside the river, watching the sunlight bounce off the woman's curly brown hair that was the same colour as Jem's. This had to be her mother! As she followed them, she even heard the woman refer to her father as "Atticus', confirming that it really was her father she was seeing.

Finding that it was too awkward to carry both things, she hastily pulled her helmet back over her head and ducked into the bushes again to better watch them as they stopped in the clearing, not caring that if they happened to catch sight of her she would look like an overgrown bug. When she finally settled and was sure they couldn't see her, Scout peeked out through the leaves to watch.

The Atticus in front of her seemed to be more carefree than the Atticus she had known all her life. He was smiling and laughing and had a relaxed air about him. Scout had to wonder what had changed. Did the death of her mother make him close up just slightly? Was she about to see how things could have been if her mother hadn't died? Having heard Atticus call the woman "Jean", Scout was now certain she was looking at her mother, and damn she was pretty! She'd heard countless stories of course about how kind and ladylike her mother was, but hadn't ever heard just how pretty she was. It suddenly made Scout feel a little disappointed in herself. After years of having Aunty and Mrs Dubose make comments about her, she had grown to accept that she was just an "ugly girl". What would her mother think of her if she saw her?

Deciding that was something she would think about later, Scout shook the thought from her head and listened fully to the conversation between her mother and father, still in a state of disbelief that she was seeing Jean Finch in the flesh.

"I thought your sister would never stop talking and I wouldn't get a chance to have you all to myself." Jean was saying, wrapping her arms around Atticus' neck. In the bushes, Scout grinned. Her own mother hadn't even been too fond of Aunty! She was liking her more and more by the second!

"Subtly definitely isn't your strong point, honey. I don't think you could have made it anymore obvious you were tired listening to her." Scout heard her father reply, and she grinned even wider. She wished she knew what her mother had done to aggravate her aunt. Her grin, however, quickly vanished when she kept watching them both in front of her. Did she just see Atticus smack her mother's backside?

Shaking her head a little, Scout kept watching, becoming repulsed when she saw her mother lean forward and start kissing her father. Wasn't that how Dill had told her babies were made? Were her mother and father about to make Jem? She couldn't watch.

"You know, if Alexandra ever found out that you've been sneaking into my room every night that we've been staying here, I think she'd have a fit. If she had her way I'm certain we wouldn't see each other until we were married. She'd probably disown you for shaming the family like that." Her mother was then saying, snaking her arms back around Atticus' neck.

Scout was even more confused at that. Why would Atticus be sneaking into her mother's room? Did he get scared on his own? The Atticus she knew wasn't scared of anything. Was this a different Atticus?

"I don't hear you complaining when I'm there," Atticus was saying back.

"Never said I was complaining," Jean answered him with a smirk. "Definitely not complaining." Scout watched her kiss him again.

Growing bored with watching their less than eventful interaction, she looked away to inspect her surroundings again, being able to pick out the exact tree she and Jem had tied their cousin Francis to one Christmas. Aunt Alexandra had been furious, refusing to even look in their direction when they traipsed back into the house. It had been the best Christmas Scout could remember.

When she looked back, she nearly fell over at seeing that her mother and father were now on the ground. She was disgusted, but couldn't make herself look away. She watched Atticus' hand go under her mother's dress, while the other unbuttoned the buttons at the front. What was he doing?!

"You must be awful tired. You weren't this slow at getting 'em undone last night," Jean was saying quietly.

"I'm just taking my time to appreciate the view." Atticus replied, and she watched him kiss under her mother's neck.

Scout was now side eyeing the both of them, completely appalled at her father's behaviour, but appalled in a way that made it impossible for her to look away. From the side of her eye she kept watching as Atticus continued undoing buttons and kissed her mother's chest, and her mother put one hand in his hair and the other ran up and down the length of his back. If this is how adults played, she didn't think she ever wanted to be one. She couldn't imagine having Dill unbuttoning anything of hers, thank you very much.

Atticus and her mother kept going until Scout eventually heard him mutter something about "carrying on back inside" and he moved to pick her up off the ground. It was at that exact moment, however, that Scout's grip on the branch became too firm and it snapped painfully loud. Scout winced and immediately ducked down, silently praying that neither of them had heard.

"What was that?" She heard her mother say. "I swear, if Alexandra followed us out here!" Jean kept saying, and she imagined her rushing to button herself back up.

"Who's there?" Atticus was then asking, and she instantly recognised the booming authority of his courtroom voice. She was for it now.

Scout clutched her scrapbook closer to her chest, becoming a little fearful of her father's booming courtroom voice, the voice he only ever used if she and Jem were in trouble. Part of her mind was telling her to turn and run back through the woods, but the other part was so in awe at actually seeing her much younger parents, and her very alive mother, that she stayed rooted to the spot. Dreaming or not, she didn't want to pass up this opportunity. Forgetting the aviation helmet that was still on her head, she stood out of her hiding place in the bushes and saw no recognition on her father's face, something that made her cringe inside. From behind the goggles still covering her eyes, she glanced towards her mother, watching her friendly face change from confusion and outrage to amusement.

"Oh, Atticus, it was just a little boy playin' in the bushes," Jean said, turning to her father with a smile. "He's made a real mess of his overalls, too. I wouldn't like to be his mama trying to get those cleaned!" She said in the same cheery voice, turning back to look at Scout.

Beneath her helmet, Scout felt her cheeks grow a little hot. Her own mother thought she was a boy. Maybe Mrs Dubose had been right all along, maybe her mother would be ashamed of her. She couldn't focus too much on that, though, she was so enthralled at actually seeing her mother in the flesh. The woman she had heard so much about was now standing in front of her holding the arm of her father, and Scout couldn't help but to smile.

Tucking her scrapbook under one arm, she pulled the helmet off her head, gazing at both her parents with a wide childlike grin. "Hi." She said quietly, still a little nervous and apprehensive. What would they do now?

In front of her, she saw her father's face relax into a smile as he nudged Jean with his hip. "I think you're the one who needs glasses instead of me. That young man is very clearly a little girl." He said, as Jean raised her hands over her mouth.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry! I was being awful presumptuous!" She said, shaking her head a little.

Scout shrugged a little, practically used to people mistaking her for a boy, but it had stung a little more coming from her own mother. "It's alright. I don't like dressing like a girl," she explained.

Jean cleared her throat a little awkwardly, clearly still embarrassed at thinking she was a boy, but wanting to make her feel at ease. "What's your name, honey?" She asked, her cheeks still a little pink.

"I'm Jean Louise." Scout answered quietly, finding herself suddenly turning shy. "But everyone calls me Scout."

She saw her mother's face break into a surprised smile. "Well, isn't that a surprise! My name is Jean, too!" She spoke with such enthusiasm that Scout couldn't stop herself from smiling back. She was starting to like her mother.

"Scout's an interesting nickname," Atticus was then saying. "Who came up with that?"

Scout shrugged again. "I don't know. You always called me Scout." She replied before realising what she had said. She saw her mother and father look at her in bemusement and decided to just carry on. Who knows, maybe they'd believe her. "You're my daddy." She looked at Atticus. "And...you're my mama." She shifted her eyes to Jean.

The silence was so loud that Scout could clearly hear the steady trickle of the river in the distance, and she watched them both look at her with new expressions of pity, obviously thinking that she was some orphan who had gotten lost and latched onto the first adults she came across. She couldn't go back now, though, only convince them both that she actually was their daughter.

"Honey," Atticus was smiling at her, "I think you've been lyin' out in the sun too long. Jean and I can't be your parents, we've never seen you before." He explained calmly, that expression of pity still on his face.

"Yes, you have!" Scout was insisting, her scrapbook falling out from under her arm. "You're my daddy and you met mama in Montgomery. You told me. You met her when you were put on the leg..leg...the legislature." Scout said slowly, making sure to pronounce the word properly.

She watched her parents exchange startled glances, clearly alarmed at having some strange child know so much about their lives. Scout was getting frustrated. She wanted them to believe her. She hated when people didn't believe her, especially when she was telling the truth, but what else could she do to convince them?

And then it hit her. Her father's watch! It was still in her pocket!

"Look!" She exclaimed, causing them both to turn their attention back to her. She reached into the pocket in her overalls where she had placed her father's watch and presented it to them in her hand. "This is the watch you said Mama gave you."

Atticus looked surprised at least to see the watch in front of him, reaching into his waistcoat pocket and retracting the same, albeit shinier, watch. Scout clicked open hers and read the inscription out loud, causing Jean and Atticus to look at each other once again. Did they finally believe her?

"That's the watch I gave you as an engagement present!" Jean half shouted, clearly confused beyond belief as to how this strange little girl had it in her possession.

"How did you..." Atticus began, trailing off as he returned his own watch to his pocket.

"I'm your daughter!" Scout said again. "You gave it to me cause we were playing hide and seek! I hid in the cupboard and fell asleep and woke up here. I'm Jean Louise Finch!" She said firmly, silently begging them to believe her.

"What else do you know about us?" Jean said, clearing torn between wanting to believe her and the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

Scout began thinking. What else was there that she could tell them to make them believe her? What was something that would make them completely certain that she was their daughter?

"Atticus told me that you have an older brother and sister, and you broke your arm when you were fifteen falling out of a tree." Scout replied, proud of herself for actually remembering. She watched as Jean's face went a little white, and Atticus' eyebrows shot up. She had them.

"Well I'll be," Atticus said quietly after what seemed like an eternity of silence, his eyes never leaving her. "So, you're our daughter?"

"Yes, sir." Scout replied, letting out a relieved sigh that they finally believed her.

"I'm not even going to try and figure this out." Jean said, throwing her hands up but smiling at her.

Scout grinned back at both of them and then took off at full speed towards her father. She expected him to stop her by the shoulders as he usually did, but instead he caught her in his arms and practically spun her around. Scout was grinning and laughing contentedly as she swung off her father's neck. Atticus was always saying he was too old for things like that, so she was going to make sure she enjoyed this younger version of him.

"Atticus! You can play Tarzan and the apes with me now because you're not so old!" Scout proclaimed, still clinging to her father's neck and grinning at him.

Beside them, Jean laughed heartily, and Scout saw her reach out to rub her father's arm. "Well, at least one of thinks you aren't too old," she teased him.

"You're both devils," Atticus replied back. "And how do we go about playin' Tarzan and the apes?" He asked Scout, tickling her side a little.

Scout froze a moment in his arms. How did they play Tarzan and the apes? Jem made up new rules and characters every time and it was so often that she couldn't remember.

"I don't know." Scout replied honestly, cursing Jem and his insistence on always changing everything. Now she didn't have anything to play with them.

"It might a little hard for us to play it if we don't know how." Jean said, her eyes twinkling.

Scout thought for a moment, thinking of the many other games she, Jem, and Dill played during the summer months. They had all grown so complicated with Jem's many additions that she couldn't think of one that would be easy to explain. Unless they all played hide and seek?

"We could play hide and seek!" Scout exclaimed happily. "Atticus, you always play hide and seek with me when it's raining outside! We can play that!"

"I don't think I've played hide and seek since I was five years old." Her father said, lowering her to the ground with a laugh. "Are you sure I'm not too old?" He asked, smirking at her.

"No, sir, you're not too old!" Scout said back, practically bouncing on her feet. "Me and Mama will hide first and you look for us! C'mon, Mama!" She didn't even wait for her father to agree before grabbing her mother's hand, picking the scrapbook off the ground, and pulling them both into the woods.

They searched around frantically for a few moments, not able to decide on a suitable place, before settling for a patch of ground behind a few trees. According to her mother, Atticus wouldn't think of looking there. They both sat to get their breath back for a few moments, and Scout couldn't help but to look in wonderment at her mother. She had heard so much about how Jean Finch was the "perfect lady" from everyone, yet here the woman was sitting in the dirt in her best dress with her hair messed up and grass stains on her elbows. She was beginning to see that perhaps her mother wasn't the saint that everyone painted her to be, and she was very happy about that.

When they finally got their breath back, it was her mother who started conversation. "Why don't you tell me about your scrapbook while we're waiting for four eyes to come and find us?" Jean asked, making Scout gasp then laugh. Had her mother continued to tease her father like that throughout their marriage? She was loving her more every second.

Scout suddenly turned a little shy. The scrapbook had been her secret with Dill, she hadn't shared it with anyone else, not even Jem. Becoming very protective of the book in her arms, she gently laid it out on the ground in front of them.

"This is my adventure book that I made with Dill. When I become a pilot like Amelia Earhart, we're gonna fly to all the countries in the world and not come back." Scout explained, opening up the front cover to the picture of the globe they had cut from from one of Jem's magazines.

"Hmm, sounds like quite an adventure. Maybe I'll go along with you." Her mother replied, giving her a playful nudge and gazing down at the places she and Dill had circled in pencil. "Is Dill one of your school friends?" She asked.

"He's my fiancé," Scout replied, starting to grin. "He proposed to me last summer. We're gonna get married."

She peeked at her mother and found her trying hard to keep her face straight. "Is that so? Why don't you tell me more about Dill? He's gonna have to be somethin' if he's gonna marry my darling daughter." She reached out and ruffled Scout's already messy hair.

Scout immediately felt at ease with the familiarity of talking about Dill. Dill was constant, Dill was home.

"He stays with Miss Rachel next door to us during the summer. He has blonde hair that sticks up straight like this." She used her hands to lift a lock of her own hair to resemble Dill's. "He looks like a duck."

Her mother burst out laughing beside her, making Scout feel rather proud of herself. "You know, that's exactly what Atticus' hair looks like in the morning. You'd think he'd been electrocuted." She replied, causing Scout to laugh along with her. Atticus was always so put together from head to toe that it was difficult to imagine him with messy hair.

Little by little, Scout found herself relaxing in her mother's company, enjoying just sitting with her even if they didn't speak. She was in awe of her. Jean was silly, playful, and tremendously funny. It wasn't hard for Scout to see, even at her young age, why her father had fallen so in love with her. She was like no lady Scout had ever known, and she loved her.

While they were talking about her mother's family and things she had done as a child, the breaking of twigs in the distance signalled that Atticus was close to finding their hiding spot. Her mother looked over her shoulder and turned back to her with a smirk.

"Why don't we give Atticus a nice surprise when he finds us? Have you ever dug for worms before?" She asked, a playful glint in her eyes.

Scout nodded eagerly, thinking of past times when she and Jem had dug for worms in the back yard to scare Cal with. It seemed impossible that she was now sitting in the woods with her "perfect lady" of a mother digging for worms. If only there were some way for Mrs Dubose to see Jean Finch now.

When Atticus eventually found their hiding place, they had collected so many worms Scout was having trouble containing them in her hands. Her mother had quietly instructed her that, once Atticus had found them and sat down, they would both reach forward and drop them down the back of his shirt. Scout was practically shaking with excitement, never having pulled such a stunt on her father. She couldn't wait to see what his reaction would be.

"Did you go to Georgia to look for us?" Jean laughed when Atticus appeared beside them. "Scout and me were about to call it a day and come and find _you_." She teased as he sat on the ground beside them.

"Knew you were here the entire time," Atticus replied casually. "I just let you think I didn't."

"Uh huh. Whatever you say, honey." Jean replied, giving Scout the signal over his shoulder. Together, they both quickly leaned forward and pushed as many worms as possible down the back of his shirt.

Atticus arched his back against the sensation and Scout could hear him say a quiet, drawn out "no". Jean was in stitches on the ground beside him, and Scout was grinning from ear to ear watching Atticus stand up and try and shake as many of them out as he could, looking more undressed than Scout had ever seen him though he didn't seem to mind.

"You're for it when we get back to the house, Miss Graham." Atticus said, smirking towards her mother. Scout imagined he'd probably cover her in flour or something.

"I think you'll see that I didn't act alone. My accomplice is sitting right next to you." Jean replied, gesturing towards Scout sitting by his side.

"I have reason to believe she was coerced into carrying out your orders. You probably brainwashed her, you devil." Atticus said, giving her mother a push.

"Don't act like you didn't deserve it," Jean teased him back. "Oh, Scout, honey there's some worms on your book! Just tip 'em off." She then said, pointing towards the scrapbook lying on the ground.

Sure enough, when Scout turned her head there were three worms wriggling around which she quickly tipped off. She brushed the remaining dirt off the pages and pulled the book back to her chest. It was too valuable to her to get all messed up.

"Dill would be real mad if I messed this up. He drew pictures in it." She explained, moving to sit in the middle between her mother and father.

"Dill is Scout's boyfriend," Jean explained to Atticus.

"No, he's my fiancé," Scout corrected her.

"Sorry, sorry! He's her fiancé," her mother repeated.

"I don't think I approve of my daughter getting married when she's still so young," Atticus said playfully. "Though, maybe we could have a joint wedding?" He teased.

Scout rolled her eyes at him. "We aren't getting married yet. We're gonna wait until we're older so we can have babies," she explained, and then a thought struck her. "How do you have babies? Dill said you get 'em by kissing and hugging each other. Is that what you were doing when I was hiding?"

There was silence, then Jean erupted into laughter while Atticus became suddenly very interested in his shoes as he tried to suppress his own laughter. Scout looked back and forth between then, completely baffled at their behaviour.

"Oh, honey," Jean said eventually. "I think you're a little young to be worrying about babies just yet." Her mother placed a hand on her knee.

"But we want a baby!" Scout repeated firmly. "We could look after it ok. Dill's daddy owns a railway and Dill's gonna own it someday!" She put forward her arguments.

Atticus cleared his throat to disguise his laughter as he looked at something far off in the distance, leaving Scout feeling a little insulted. What was so funny about wanting to have a baby?

"Tell you what, honey." Her mother said. "How about we have another game of hide and seek and then we'll tell you all about babies." She bargained, and Scout accepted. She was enjoying this time with her parents without Jem. She made a mental note to make sure she asked them again. If her mother thought she'd forget just by playing another game of hide and seek, well, she was wrong.

This time, Scout declared that she would hide while Atticus and Jean looked for her. She made sure they covered their eyes before she set off and once again began frantically looking for somewhere to hide. She found the perfect spot under an old willow tree and settled back against the trunk, knowing her father and mother wouldn't find her for a long time. She entertained herself by flicking through the pages of her adventure book, looking at the pictures Dill had stuck in of what he believed different European cities to look like. There was Paris, Venice, London, all of which he had promised they would visit once Scout could fly her own plane. With the adventure book propped in her lap and the branches of the willow tree providing her with shade, Scout fell asleep.

oOoOoOo

 _23rd February 1936_

She was falling, though she didn't appear to have fallen a great distance before she came into contact with something hard and cold, something that definitely didn't feel like the undergrowth of the woods. Opening her eyes, she was greeted with the tiles of the utility room floor and her father's shoes. She was home.

"So, this is where you were hiding," Atticus' voice came from above her where he was holding the cupboard door open. "I was about to call for a search party," he joked.

Wearily rubbing at her eyes, she took a look around to make sure she was definitely at home. She saw the utility room, the kitchen in the distance, and heard the playing of the radio in the living room. She definitely wasn't collecting worms with her mother on the Landing anymore.

"Atticus, what time is it?" Scout asked, wondering just how long she had been hiding in the cupboard.

"It's just gone a quarter to four. Didn't you look at my watch while you were in there?" He asked, helping her to her feet.

"No, sir. I fell asleep." Scout answered, looking down and seeing a little speck of dirt on her overalls. Was that old? Or had it come from the Landing? "Atticus, what did you and Mama do when you took her to the Landing?" She asked, curious to hear his answer. She saw his neck go a little pink, but he stayed composed.

"We walked around by the river mostly. Why?" He peered over his glasses, almost as if trying to figure her out.

Scout shook her head. "No reason!" She replied chirpily. "Did Mama have any nicknames for you?" She watched her father think for a second, watching as he smiled a little and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Your mother was quite the comedian. She used to call me four eyes when we were alone." Atticus replied, and she could see him laughing just a little at the memory.

"Atticus, I had a really good dream while I was in there," Scout chattered on happily. "One of the best ever."

"I would think so. You were hiding long enough, you rascal." He reached out and ruffled her hair just like he had at the Landing.

"It was a really good dream," she repeated again, the memory of a young Jean Graham and Atticus Finch warming her heart.

Maybe it hadn't been a dream...


End file.
